


a(n) (un)grateful universe

by kunnskat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Crossover, Deku in Space, Gen, Prompt Fill, Such as Class 1-A, Unbetaed because we die like Gods, mentions of Gamora, various appearances of other characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 21:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunnskat/pseuds/kunnskat
Summary: “He did it,” sounds so far away and yet Toshinori understands exactly what it means.





	a(n) (un)grateful universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Timothy_Boomerang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timothy_Boomerang/gifts).



> A while ago I prompted a fic where All Might and Deku are Iron Man and Spider-Man in A: IF part 1 and got an absolutely beautiful one-shot named [Crumble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17493638) by Timothy_Boomerang and so I'm gifting this in return even though it took me a bit to finally get the motivation to finish it.
> 
> Also, this version is more of a crossover than an AU, oops. I basically wrote it as if the Earth being attacked for the Stones is the BNHA's Earth and not the one with actual Iron Man and all that. Rewriting the fight scenes to make sense anyway was a total pain and I probably failed.

 

Glancing at the hole in the ceiling, Toshinori leaves the building through the front door and looks at the chaotic surroundings. There are people running and screaming in alarm, traffic has become impossibly tangled, the wind drags garbage through the streets. 

And a woman falls in front of him. He reaches out to give her a hand.

“Are you alright?” he asks her, concerned, but the woman ignores him and runs away. He lets her, distracted by a car crashing into a pole behind him.

“Help him,” he tells the others as his phone calls and he picks up.

“All Might,” relief is clear in the tone of his caller but there is no time for that. “What are we looking at, Present Mic?”

“We're not sure but we're working on it,” the shortness of his breath makes it very clear that Present Mic is running or fighting. Toshinori isn't certain which answer he'd prefer more. “You know anything? They came out of nowhere, we had no advance warning.”

“There is what appears to be a spaceship over the city,” All Might is grateful for all his experience that forces him through the faltering words and shocking view of a huge circular ship quite literally looking to be floating over the street in front of him. It gives off a mechanical hum that does not sound familiar.

-

He has a bad feeling about what's got to be some sort of spaceship floating over the city, huge and circular and dangerous. If this is an invasion, they're going to need all the help they can get. But there is no way the teachers on the bus would let him go.

“Hey, I need you to cause a distraction,” Izuku whispers to Kaminari because Kaminari is good at those and so is Sero. To ask one is to expect the other to join in. For the memes, you see.

Kaminari turns then gapes at the sight of the ship, “holy shit! There's a spaceship! An alien invasion! We're all dead!”

“Are they gonna eat us, you think?” there's a fascinated horror in Sero's tone and it's all Izuku hears as he escapes through a window in the back while the teachers try and no doubt fail to restrain his classmates.

He keeps his eyes on the ship, making his way towards it as quickly as he can.

-

“Evacuate anyone in the South of the city, notify first responders,” if they're lucky it's unnecessary and no one will get hurt. But as it is, All Might is certain that their enemy will be dangerous. None other would dare attack a city filled with heroes in broad daylight such as this without the power to back it up. Though of course, it could be that they are simply that secure in their ship that they know they will escape. “And let's see if we can do anything about that ship.”

“Will do,” Present Mic agrees and then he's hung up.

This is fine, however, as All Might would not have been able to respond anyway. Two beings are descending to the ground, one preaching, “Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to...”

And that's really all All Might needs to hear as he walks closer, ready for a fight.

“Earth is closed today. You’d best leave.”

“Does this chattering animal speak for you?” one of them looks at Sir Nighteye, dismissing All Might entirely. It is a strange feeling but letting it bother him won’t help anyone.

“Certainly not, I speak for myself,” and Sir Nighteye moves into a familiar stance. “You are trespassing.”

“You heard him,” All Might adds, waiting to see if they’ll choose to fight or flee.

“He exhausts me,” they hear the thin and tall one tell the other and then- “bring me that one.”

All Might only gives himself enough time to realize “that one” means Sir Nighteye before he’s attacking the big one approaching them.

A Smash blows them back to their companion who gestures and deflects the massive companion into a row of cars left behind by civilians. They then draw a spike of earth up and All Might finds himself up in the air while the other heroes are further attacked by uprooted trees and other debris.

As Fat Gum moves to shield Sir Nighteye, All Might returns down, rejoining the fight. A car is thrown at him and he catches it carefully despite the fact that the area is evacuated. All it takes is one frightened, frozen child. He is a hero to protect, not destroy.

But they need a distraction and it comes in an attack from the big one, letting All Might once again catch and throw them at the other villain.

“We’d best get you away from these villains,” Toshinori mutters at Sir Nighteye who throws a dark look at him.

“I am not leaving.”

“Exactly, stay.”

All Might flies through the obstacle course being created just to stop him but is cut short by the bigger one and sent through a building. When he lands, he sees a park surrounding him, and he gets up from the hole he’d made in the ground, grabbing a tree while he’s at it.

When the bigger villain arrives at the park and throws their hammer at him, he is ready, smacking them through the park and into another building. But it doesn’t keep the villain down for long and Toshinori finds himself on the defensive.

Help comes from an unexpected source when they’re about to deliver what could’ve been quite the blow, the hammer caught by the boy he’s been training.

“Hey, man, what’s up All Might?” Deku grins, there’s something in it that keeps Toshinori from trying to scold him even in a fight as they are right now.

“Kid, where’d you come from?”

“Oh, uh, there’s a field trip with the class today, remember?” is as far as Deku gets before the villain grabs him and throws him away. Toshinori reflexively tries to reach for him but ends up having to dodge another blow.

“What do they want, All Might?” Deku mumbles at him in what’s the bare bones of a slow moment during this fight.

“They’re from space, came to take something dangerous,” he tells him, well aware that Deku will find out somehow anyway and that if he informs him now there’s a better chance of success at whatever that boy’s brain comes up with. Asking Deku to return to safety now is useless, Toshinori is certain he will try and end up getting further involved all the same. So he throws an ear communicator at him to make sure they can stay in contact no matter what.

-

All Might is still fighting the bigger villain with Deku providing backup when Sir Nighteye flies through the park, “-Deku! Save him!” and he hopes Fat Gum is alright, seeing as he’s not there to stop the villain with the telekinetic powers.

“On it!” the boy calls back, chasing after the villain hunting Sir Nighteye like a train of people flying through the city.

Izuku keeps his speed at the same level as the villain not entirely willing to fight him between buildings, but speeds up when they reach a more open area. Sure, it’s got debris he’ll get thrown at him but better that than whole buildings. He’s not ready for whole buildings again just yet.

There’s a second of disbelief when a Rocket Mortgage billboard is thrown at him and Izuku has to untangle himself from the wreckage, unable to keep from calling out a “not cool!” as he starts up the pursuit again.

He’s in luck, he makes it just by Sir in time to catch him from hitting the pavement when the villain rips his cloak off with the use of bent utility poles in a way that Deku would’ve stopped to admire if this wasn’t a villain he needs to fight. Or at least keep Sir Nighteye away from.

But before he can get them away, a cone of blue light grasps onto them and pulls at Sir Nighteye to force him upwards. Deku tries grabbing a lightpole to anchor them but it’s uprooted by the villain and he, Sir Nighteye and the cloak flies up towards the ship.

“Uh, All Might?” he says, the ear comm. easily used for calling through to his mentor like he's been taught for emergencies. “I’m being beamed up!”

“Hang on, kid,” he hears, but All Might sounds kind of busy so Deku wonders if he’ll make it.

All Might too is starting to really worry, but he refuses to let it show, blowing the villain through a building to give himself a second to think. It comes back all too soon but then it’s losing a hand and All Might can see Fat Gum grimacing next to it, fists raised.

“Fat Gum! You’re alright?” he calls out with a smile at the sight of the man who only waves in a vague gesture as he continues beating up on the villain that’d kept him busy. “Let’s catch up later!”

And with that, All Might jumps out of there to catch up before the ship can retreat with Sir Nighteye and Deku.

He’s just under the ship when he contacts Deku, looking right at him, “Izuku, you’ve gotta let go. I’m gonna catch you, alright? But let go now.”

“But you said to save Sir Nighteye!” he hears the boy gasp out in what must be a worrying lack of oxygen. “Can’t breathe!”

“You’re too high up, kid, you’re running out of air.”

“Oh! Yeah, that makes sense!” and then it goes alarmingly quiet. All Might sees him falling and jumps right at the ship while kicking at the air to keep going up, grasping onto it and carefully holding Izuku in his other arm. It’s too late to send him back now so he shifts them to what looks like a door and punches it open, throwing them both inside so he can shove the door back in place.

“...Stay here,” he tells the now breathing kid. “Stay hidden. I’m going to find Sir Nighteye and then we’re going to see if there’s a safe way off this ship.”

“Wait!” Deku protests and Toshinori thinks he’ll have to turn around and tell him again when steps falter and he hears, “oh my God!”

He has to turn around to check, who knows what this kid could get himself involved in if he doesn’t, and Izuku is staring wide-eyed outside and at the Earth shrinking from sight.

“I should have stayed on the bus…” Izuku mumbles and Toshinori agrees, “-yeah, you should have.”

When they, and it’s they now because he can’t leave Izuku like that even if he’s taking him into more danger, finally find the villain and Sir Nighteye it’s to see the villain interrogating Sir Nighteye who is floating horizontally, face down, and is surrounded by dozens of glassy needles, each about two feet long.

“In all the time I've served my master, I've never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be...judgement,” it is obvious that though none of it shows, this one fears their master. Enough so that just one failure is a failure too much.

Toshinori considers using this, but it isn't a sure-fire way to get Sir back safely so he waits while the large glassy needles they'd brought forth touches Sir's face, causing an obviously painful whitish glow at contact.

“Give it to me,” they order Sir.

Toshinori watches quietly, gauging the risk of attacking or waiting. As it is, he is alone not counting Izuku, and the biggest issue would be if he could keep Sir Nighteye safe after rescuing him or if he is safe enough for now that All Might can take out the villains first.

-

“Oh no,” Izuku mumbles to himself, as quietly as he can, because he can no longer see Earth. He really hadn’t thought this through, he’ll admit it to himself, but he’s not sure if he’ll deny or admit it if All Might asks.

The one thing he does know is that he couldn’t not fight to save Sir Nighteye when All Might had specifically asked him to, he couldn’t not do anything in his power to save the man.

All Might watching the situation is the only thing that keeps him from intervening right away as he notices what the villain is doing. Catching his eye, he looks at the window showing the vast space they’re traveling through, mimes a punch and points at a piece of the ship that looks safe enough to move without tearing open a new hole.

All Might nods and then, just as the villain tells Sir, “painful, aren’t they? They were originally designed for microsurgery and any one of them…”

He turns to look at All Might, “-could end your friend's life in an instant.”

“I will not let that happen,” All Might announces, proud and determined, watching his opponent slowly walk towards him, beckoning some of the large and clearly solid metal objects spread through the room to float alongside him.

Good, Izuku thinks to himself, that’s a part we now know we can use to block the hole. And then he’s pulling Sir Nighteye out of his bindings as All Might punches a hole through the wall, jumping to another of the walls while holding onto Sir as best as he can.

Everything is being sucked out and it’s hard to hold on to both Sir and a wall up until All Might, flying towards the wall, gently kicks some of the larger pieces of metal at the hole and they block it.

That’s more proof to his theory that All Might has gone to University and gotten himself several degrees like physics and what not because it takes a good eye to manage that and even decades of heroics can’t do it or a lot of heroes wouldn’t have so many damages as they do.

Jumping them down and getting up on trembling feet, Izuku feels sick when he sees the villain float past one of the other windows, clearly frozen to death.

“We need to turn this ship around,” Sir Nighteye stands tense, frowning out the window. “And who is this?”

“Oh! Uh, I’m Midoriya Izuku-”

“Sir Nighteye,” the man returns and Izuku decides it’s better not to say he already knew that.

“Nice to- well, maybe not nice- uh, my hero name is Deku?” God, he can’t do anything right today, can he. Sir Nighteye is looking at him like he’s in the way and Izuku really feels it.

“The ship is continuing on its path,” All Might informs them from what looks like it could be the controls and they walk over to have a look.

“Autopilot?” Izuku asks, already knowing the answer.

“Can we control it, fly us back to Earth?” Sir Nighteye doesn’t seem to be expecting any answer he can’t provide himself, leaning in to analyze the controls.

Izuku is willing to bet that the answer is no.

“I am not sure we should,” All Might’s answer has both of them looking at him, but Sir Nighteye seems extremely irritated by it more than the confusion Izuku feels.

“I am not giving the villain the Stone, All Might.”

“Sir Nighteye. He knows us, he knows our moves, he knows exactly how to fight us and win on our turf. But on his? He will not be expecting it and that may be our only chance to win this,” it’s a fair and valid argument, Izuku can get behind that when he thinks about how his mom and friends are back on Earth and how taking the fight back to Earth might get them all killed even if they could win there.

“Alright, All Might,” Sir Nighteye relents after a pause of studying the man. “We’ll go to him but you have to understand. If given the choice between saving either of you or the Stone, I will not hesitate to choose the Stone. I cannot let him have it because the fate of the universe depends on it.”

Izuku feels a shiver run down his spine even as All Might says nothing, does nothing but frown at Sir Nighteye.

But he’s not willing to give up.

-

“Hey, isn’t that-” Izuku starts saying, watching them approach a planet. “Wait, we’re not slowing down!”

“Looks like we’re going to crash,” All Might says as Sir Nighteye grabs Izuku and drags him to the controls.

“Hold around these, you’re going to steer us,” and while Izuku is panicking at the surprising trust, Sir Nighteye is pointing All Might at some other control part before putting himself in the middle.

“We will need to move at the same time, this was intended for one person,” and clearly expecting them to follow through, Sir Nighteye doesn’t wait for the “okay!” Izuku says anyway.

Somehow they make it through with only damages to the ship, which to be fair should only be an issue if they survive the fight. But maybe the Stone they have with them can do something about that? It’s an idea Izuku tables for later even as he gets up, watching Sir Nighteye offer All Might a hand.

“So, uhm,” struggling to come up with something to break what feels like an awkward silence, Izuku knows even as he says it that he’s going to regret it. “If aliens implant eggs in my chest or something and I end up eating you, I’m so sorry!”

“Stop that,” All Might scolds him, but there’s a softness to his tone that can’t be disguised.

“I was just trying to say that- something is coming,” Izuku turns his head to peer at what they can reasonably see when what looks like a grenade rolls into view on the ground and it explodes? No, not explodes it- well, Izuku tells himself he’ll come up with a better description later when a big man throws a knife at Sir Nighteye who quickly deflects it.

“Thanos!” the big man had shouted which, what?

Absolute chaos follows, Izuku spots All Might fight some guy in what looks like red leather before spotting another possible villain too close. He thinks possible because she - she? should he use they? - they look very anxious and that’s a mood.

He still tries to tie them down just in case, and then the red leather person flies at him feet first, kicking him away and calling out a, “stay down, clown!”

Reflexes keep him safe at first but then the red leather plausible villain has him in a headlock and what worryingly feels like a gun is pointed at his head. Izuku sees Sir Nighteye shielding himself not too far away and tries to think up a strategy when red leather speaks.

“Alright, everybody, stay where you are and chill the F out. I’m gonna ask you this one time. Where’s Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better. Who is Gamora?” because the other two look just as confused by the name as Izuku feels and all three of them would know if this Gamora was some new villain or even hero.

“I’ll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!” the crazy big person shouts, which again, what?

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I’m gonna French fry this little freak,” alright ouch, Izuku hasn’t been called a freak in over a year now so that’s one big bad reminder.

Anger clouds All Mights smile and when Izuku glances at Sir Nighteye there’s a calculating cold expression hiding behind the usual blankness. It reminds him a little of when Todoroki-kun gets worried.

“Let him go.”

“Oh yeah? You don’t wanna tell me where she is? That’s fine. I’ll kill all three of you and beat it out of Thanos myself,” Izuku looks up to see red leather staring down at him. “Starting with you.”

“Wait. Thanos? What master do you serve?” Sir Nighteye is clearly trying to inject some sanity into this situation, Izuku hasn’t felt this thankful for his life since he first met All Might.

“What master do I serve?” Red leather sounds absolutely baffled. “What am I supposed to say? Jesus?”

“You’re from Earth?” All Might tries to clarify but that’s pretty much obvious now, isn’t it?

“I’m from Missouri,” red leather frowns at them and-

“That’s on Earth,” Izuku has to point out. “...So you’re not with Thanos?”

“With Thanos?! No! I’m here to kill Thanos! He took my girl. ...Wait. Who are you?” that kind of indignation and anger would be hard to fake so Izuku thinks he believes red leather about this.

“I’m Deku. That’s All Might and Sir Nighteye and we’re heroes from Earth.”

-

“You are much more of a Thanos,” Sir Nighteye says, sitting upon what looks like they used to be plaza steps long ago. Thanos stands in front of him, looking at the fresh debris from the ship they’d landed with.

“I take it Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission.”

“You may come to regret that. He has brought you face-to-face with an intelligence Hero.”

“And where do you think he brought you?” Sir Nighteye very carefully does not look anywhere but at Thanos as the villain speaks, keeping his face blank to let the others position themselves.

“Let me guess. Your home?”

“It was,” Thanos informs him with a smile. “And it was beautiful.”

His gauntlet curls and one of the stone glows before the reality around them shifts to show what the planet must have looked like before it was destroyed. Green grass, blue ponds, beautiful buildings and people strolling happily past. Structures hovered above, barely connected to ground-based buildings, “Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths and not enough to go around. We faced extinction and I offered a solution.”

“Genocide,” Sir Nighteye correctly guesses.

“But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike,” Thanos must think there is a chance of persuasion or he would not offer this explanation… Well, unless he simply is that confident that he will win. Sir Nighteye would not put it past him from what he has heard and seen. “They called me a madman. And then what I predicted came to pass.”

The illusion fades and Sir Nighteye can’t hide the disgust, “congratulations. You’re a prophet.”

“I am a survivor,” Thanos corrects but does not deny.

“You want to murder trillions.”

That’s not the act of a simple survivor.

“With all six stones I could simply snap my fingers and they would all cease to exist. I call that a mercy,” it’s a weak defense at best but Thanos seems to genuinely believe it.

“And then what?” Sir Nighteye stands, entering a fighting pose.

“I finally rest… And watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills.”

“I think you will find our will equal to yours,” Sir Nighteye announces, satisfied to see surprise on Thanos’ face when he looks up and is immediately crushed by wreckage descending down courtesy of All Might.

The wreckage erupts in purple and Thanos bellows in rage, throwing it back at All Might and forcing him through the ruins.

-

Deku throws dust in Thanos’ eyes and swings in a kick at the same time as the big guy who’d introduced himself as Drax leaps into a knee-slide behind with blades in hand. If Deku was a betting man, which he’s not because Aizawa-sensei would kill him and that’s only if his mom didn’t get to him first, he’d say Drax was going for tendons to make sure Thanos couldn’t walk away.

Drax is punched through another ruined building and then Thanos is aiming for Sir Nighteye.

Star-Lord has by then gotten close enough to shoot Thanos from behind and distract him enough to make him retaliate with one of the stones, shooting balls of energy at the man while he leaps on whatever pieces of rubble he could get to. He manages to flip over Thanos and slap a mine on his back before jumping away with Sir Nighteye.

“Boom!” Quill shouts gleefully while the explosion knocks Thanos down to his knees, dazing him even just for a moment.

Deku takes the opportunity to repeatedly kick Thanos in the head until the villain turns, grabs him from the air and throws him to the ground with his hand around his neck, reminding Deku for a second of Shigaraki and bringing up his heart rate more than he’s comfortable with.

“Insect!” Thanos insults him in a rage before throwing him at Sir Nighteye which, well, kind of a relief given that Deku had been sure he’d been about to snap his neck or something.

Both of them move back as smaller explosions distract Thanos, Deku waiting for a more opportune moment to jump back in. It comes when All Might is once again punched far away, plowing through a massive machine.

He leaps over and tries to force him into the ground but finds himself pulled close and then punched just as hard as All Might had been. His landing doesn’t feel very good but he gets a good enough view of a small spaceship crash-landing on Thanos, burying him under debris as it forces him along the ground.

The pilot leaps to where he is left, some sort of energy-blade at the ready while shouting, “you should have killed me.”

This one’s a new one, Izuku thinks quietly, dragging himself up from the ground and moving closer to make sure he doesn’t miss anything like a chance to get Thanos.

“Would’ve been a waste of parts!” clearly sets off the attacker as they run at him with their sword, shouting back, “where’s Gamora?!”

Thanos punches them away like he’s been doing to them all this entire time before getting distracted by Sir Nighteye followed by Drax. Thanos is clearly off balance when Star-Lord decides to use one of electric traps and Deku realizes which ploy this is and jumps in to help keep Thanos still long enough for Mantis to appear from above, her first attempt at joining the fight.

She lands on his shoulders, her hand going to his temples as he bellows, trying to shake them all off.

All Might having returned is already pulling on the gauntlet in an attempt to get it off but it’s not working even as Thanos becomes subdued and easier to hold. Not entirely asleep but close.

“Is he under? Don’t let up,” All Might keeps pulling.

“Be quick, he is very strong,” Mantis whispers, Deku hurts just looking at the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Deku!” All Might calls for him and he immediately lets go of Thanos to help pull the gauntlet off. “She can’t hold him much longer so let’s go.”

“I thought you’d be harder to catch. For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh?” Star-Lord taunts Thanos, landing in front of him. “Where is Gamora?”

“My… Gamora?” Thanos dazedly returns.

“No, bullshit. Where is she?”

Mantis takes in a sharp breath that they all hear in the silence, “he is in anguish.”

“Good,” Star-Lord clearly can’t help but grumble.

“He… he mourns,” Mantis’ tears are doubling even as Star-Lord scoffs. Deku feels wariness rise even while he’s still helping All Might because something tells him that they’re about to get bad news.

“What does this monster have to mourn?!” Star-Lord demands angrily only to be silenced by the surprise attacker from earlier.

“Gamora,” they say quietly, a horror in their voice.

“...What?”

“He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone. But not her.”

“...You have to stay calm,” Deku hears All Might say to Star-Lord, clearly sensing the danger just as much as Deku. Glancing at Sir Nighteye shows alarm and Deku returns to tugging desperately at the gauntlet, putting as much into it as he can without breaking himself in the process. They don’t have any time left.

“Do you understand, Star-Lord? Stay calm!” but the man is already turning back to Thanos, something dark and frightening in his expression.

“Do not engage! We almost have it off, do not engage Star-Lord!” All Might shouts, now, desperate to try to make sure they all survive this.

“Tell me she’s lying. Asshole! Tell me you didn’t do it!”

“I… had… to,” Thanos reveals, a tear trailing down from his left eye.

Deku can see what’s about to happen but he can’t act fast enough to stop it and keep pulling at the gauntlet at the same time. When Star-Lord punches Thanos, tears trailing down his cheeks as he screams at the villain in rage and pain, Mantis flinches back in pain.

“Quill!” Drax and All Might shout at the same time, the latter leaving Deku with the task of getting off the gauntlet as he tries to stop Quill from reawakening Thanos. He’s just gotten it loose when Thanos head-butts Mantis, grasps the gauntlet as it is sliding off and then throws both Mantis and Deku away from him.

Quickly grasping Mantis into a safer hold, Deku tries his best to go for a safe landing that won’t break their necks or anything else. By the time he’s looking up from the ground, Drax, Star-Lord and the surprise attacker are unconscious not too far away.

All Might jumps back into the fight and is immediately head-butted to the ground before Thanos raises his gauntlet and the planet’s moon shatters, debris flying down towards them at a surprising speed. All Might clearly tries to avoid it but is slammed into the ground by a huge chunk as the people who’d called themselves the Guardians plus one go flying up. It’s only his grip on Mantis that keeps her with him.

He’s better equipped to deal with this than most so Deku goes for Drax next, quickly securing them to some debris hopefully far enough away from the battle that they won’t get killed because they can’t defend themselves. Then he goes for Star-Lord and the blue one, glancing at the battle a few times to see that Sir Nighteye has once again physically joined in.

-

“You’re full of tricks, wizard,” All Might hears and he looks, eyes widening when Thanos reaches for the Stone Sir Nighteye is keeping safe. And then snaps it off the chain and crushes it in his fist.

“Yet you never once used your greatest weapon. A fake.”

All Might can’t intervene fast enough to stop Thanos from throwing Sir to the ground but he can distract him from the unconscious Hero.

“Done throwing moons at me?”

“Yagi.”

“You know me?” it is unexpected, All Might may be the number one on Earth but there is, as far as he is aware, no hero rankings away from their planet.

“I do. You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.”

He’ll question that later, if he can, but they cannot afford to give Thanos a moment to rest if they truly aim to defeat the villain.

All Might aims a Smash at Thanos who becomes shrouded in smoke and before it can clear, he throws himself at him and punches him straight into a ruined wall several meters behind him. Unfortunately Thanos shakes it off quickly, ripping off the device they’d only barely gotten onto the gauntlet and then aiming at All Might, a stream of energy getting released.

Sliding from under the energy shot at him, he throws a kick at Thanos, inspired by his successor, and follows it up with a punch that slams into Thanos’ face, leaving a cut on his cheek as proof of contact.

“All that for a drop of blood,” Thanos pants and then, with a brief smile, punches All Might and sends him back before launching at him with his fists, blow after blow landing on the hero. Toshinori tries to block them with his forearms but Thanos is relentless.

All Might hasn’t had this much trouble since All For One and he spares a moment to feel regret that he hadn’t somehow found a way for Izuku to go home safe before Thanos came. If nothing else, he hopes the other heroes grabs the kid and runs.

Thanos blasts him with the Power Stone and All Might crashes into something he isn’t sure if is a wall or a boulder. It feels like the latter. Getting up shouldn’t be this hard but he pushes himself and stands, swaying for a second before going to attack again.

Thanos walks right up to him and backhands him. All Might crosses his arms to block a blow from the gauntlet and gets his left hand caught over his head. Desperate, he kicks at a longer piece of rock, forcing it up into his free hand to attack him but it’s also easily caught by Thanos and snapped into two. The shorter bit is driven into his left side, ending the fight.

The villain forces him back into a sitting position, placing the gauntlet on his head as if patting a child to congratulate them on a good job.

“You have my respect, Yagi,” the villain tells him calmly as he lets go of him and steps back. If he hadn't been sat down, Toshinori is certain he'd be laying on the ground, unable to get up. As it is, it is a struggle to stay sitting, to breathe when he feels like he might cough out what blood is left in him. “When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive.”

It hurts.

“I hope they remember you.”

It hurts and he is going to die here, so he might as well go down fighting. It doesn't matter that he can't breathe, he needs to get up and beat the villain. All Might is Here! The villain has no-

Thanos points at him, Toshinori can feel the power gathering. He is certain he will die here, now, and prays that the others survive somehow. If nothing else, then some good should come out of this.

“Stop!” sounds just like Sir Nighteye and Toshinori blinks, dazedly turning to where it’d come from to see him sitting up. “Spare his life… and I will give you what you want.”

“No tricks,” Thanos warns, pointing his gauntlet at Sir Nighteye instead.

“Don’t..!” All Might tries to stop him but he cannot move from his spot on the ground and is forced to watch Sir Nighteye pluck the stone out of its hiding place, hand opening to let it float towards Thanos.

It lands in the bare palm of the villain who winces as the stone pulses energy, “one to go,” he tells them and then something hits the empty spot for the stone that causes Thanos to grimace. It must be in surprise, for very few of their attacks had harmed the villain at all during the fight. An attack on the gauntlet should not do him any damage.

The leader of the group that had met up with them here is screaming but he’s also going for the villain with both hands firing. It’s clear to see he’d been the one to fire at the gauntlet, which well, Toshinori wishes he’d aimed somewhere softer. Less resistant to burning.

Thanos doesn’t even bother to to acknowledge the assault, he merely walks through a portal as if it’s everyday travel for him. As if he’s had all the time in the world to master the stone that lets him teleport.

Star-Lord crashes to the ground but doesn’t stay down, getting up and removing his helmet to show a darker expression.

“Where is he?!” he demands, rage still dominant.

Out of breath, Toshinori holds a hand to put pressure on his stab wound as well as he can, he has no answers to give that question. Only suspicions and fears.

“...Did we just lose?” fear takes over from fury, Star-Lord’s expression matching.

“Why would you do that?” he finally asks, needing to know what had prompted such a response when Sir had said himself that he’d not give the stone up for the measly lives of they who came here. The world is not a sacrifice.

“We are in the endgame now,” Sir Nighteye speaks softly, as if to raise his voice would wake the world and it has only just fallen asleep. The knowing tone worries Toshinori but at the same time he trusts the man. He may have his faults and be stubborn beyond belief, but Toshinori knows that if he was forced to choose between the world and All Might, All Might would lose.

His hands shake as he accepts Deku’s help up, rising to his feet unsteadily while the others gather around them.

“Something… is… happening…” Mantis chokes out, hands held out in front of her to show them how she is fading away. There’s a darker feeling to the atmosphere, the relief of their survival that had only barely held over the guilt at not beating the villain and dooming their planet falling to pieces as they realize they might not have survived after all.

“I-” Drax reaches out for his friend and falls to ashes into the wind that Toshinori still can’t believe is here on the planet that is not theirs.

“Steady,” he tells the younger hero that lead them, grasping his shoulder to give him something real even as his friend dissolves. But then this hero falls into ashes as well, leaving only the memory of the horror clear on his face. All Might turns to look at Sir Nighteye, fearful that all those surrounding him will fade away and needing the reassurance that his old friend is still there.

Sir Nighteye is looking at him with an expression he hasn't seen in years, and the man tells him, “Toshinori, there was no other way,” reminding All Might of earlier, before it had all gone so wrong, when he'd said that there was only one way for them to win.

He wonders if winning has always looked so empty or if he's always just been too blinded by the villain falling that he'd not seen all the losses.

His old friend falls apart just like the others.

“All Might?”

There is no describing the fear in his veins or knowing in his head, none of it prepares for the ache in his heart when Deku reaches for him with fear in his eyes.

“I don't feel so good...” the boy tells him in a tone All Might had hoped to never hear out of him.

“You're alright,” he lies to the both of them, a prayer within him that he won't be proven wrong.

“I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-” All Might reaches back, catching Izuku as he stumbles in terror. Izuku clutches at him like the act itself will keep him there, whole and alive.

The boy is crying and Toshinori feels his heart hurt as Izuku whispers, “-save me, save me, I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go, please- please I don’t wanna go, I don’t-” but all he can do is wrap his arms around him and beg the world not to take him, not he who would succeed All Might, not the boy that would one day be the best of them all.

Not Izuku, please not Izuku-

“I’m sorry,” Izuku whispers, and All Might is left holding his shape made out of ash.

The ashes float out of his arms and away into the sky no matter how much his trembling hands try to hold them together in a hopeless hope of bringing Izuku back. They scatter until there's nothing recognizable in it other than the shine of the sun that creates a glowing moment reminding All Might of the bright smile and happy tears Izuku had given him when he'd told him – yes, you can be a hero – and his heart burns.

There is a special hell, he thinks, for those who bring children to their deaths. Will that be where he ends up when he dies?

“He did it,” sounds so far away and yet Toshinori understands exactly what it means. Not just for them, the only survivors at this place, but for the rest of their world. Half of them are gone now, the heroes have failed.

He did it, the villain won.

 

 


End file.
